Justice Department weighs in on NYC's stop-and-frisk case

NEW YORK, June 13 (UPI) -- The Justice Department said if a judge finds New York police stop-and-frisk practices unconstitutional, a monitor should be appointed to oversee changes.

Wednesday was the last day legal briefs could be filed in a class-action lawsuit in which the New York Police Department is under fire for allegedly targeting minorities in its controversial stop-and-frisk program, the New York Daily News reported.

Attorney General Eric Holder filed the Justice Department brief 11 p.m. Wednesday, making good on his promise to get involved in the 10-week case.

The brief took no position on the constitutionality of the stop-and-frisk practices but said if Judge Shira A Scheindlin ruled against the city, a monitor should be put in place to oversee changes to the police department's practices, The New York Times reported Thursday.

"The experience of the United States in enforcing police reform injunctions teaches that the appointment of an independent monitor is a critically important asset," the brief said.

Scheindlin is expected to rule against the police department after, in a similar case, she found the NYPD "systematically" violated the Constitution in the "Clean Halls" program in which people in the Bronx were stopped outside of their apartment buildings, the New York Post reported.

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